Piano bench



" 'Patented Jan. s, 1924.

l UNITED STATES PATENT o F'FICE.

suenen I. RAUPI Amb DAvIn coanroo'r, `or BUFFALO, 'NEW Yoan.

PIANO amen.

Application tiled August 16, 1922. Serial 13o. 582,155.

To all 'wlwm ft/may concern.'

Be it known that we, GEORGE J. RAUPP and DAVID CoizNFooT, citizens, respectively, of the United States and of Great Britain,

residing at Buffalo, inthe county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Piano Benches; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descrip- .10 tion of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. l

The present invention relates to improvements in benches for use'in connection with l5 pianos, etc.

The primary object of this invention is to Y rovide a bench with a compartment which Is adapted for holding music rolls-such as are used with player pianos; another object g is to provide said roll holders with a lower.

stationary portion as a means of storing the little used rolls, while movable upper roll holders are used for the rolls in more constant use; another object is to provide said '25 movable holders in. a size and form to be easily removed from said compartment and to hold4 said rolls in such a manner as to form a convenient filing system without the use of cards or like devlces.

A further object is to provide a piano bench of lthe character described adapted to normally have the top in a horizontal position when not in use orfor playing a nonautomatic piano and also for tilting the top `at a. desirable angular position for playing a player piano.

With, the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description i,

proceeds, the invention consists of certain 4o novel details of construction .and combination of parts which will be hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims, it being understood that various changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the s irit or sacrificing any of the advantages o? the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

eferring to the accompanying drawings,

5c wherein like symbols refer yto like or corresponding partsl throughout the several views, v

Figure l, is a plan of an yimproved pinf?,

'bench constructed accbiding to the present muslc roll hol ers showingl onel music roll held in position;

Fig. 5, is an end elevation of the holder shown in y Fig. 4 and with a portion broken away at 5 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Figi, is an end view of the s for holdin the music roll ont Figs. 4 an 5;

Fig. 7, is a top view of Fig. 6.

In the drawings, wherein for thepurpose of illustration is shown the referred embodiment of this invention', t e'bench comprises a box-.like structure forming acome holder in position for taking out or replacing ring clamp l partment with a front panel 2, rear panel 4, i

end panels 5 and 5, a bottom panel 12 and a top 1, supported at theJ corners byl four legs 6, 6, 6 and 6. Suitable braces for the legs 6, 6 etc. are 14 and 14 and a connecting brace The top l forms a seat and having hinges of the top 1 upwardly to a position 1', Fig. f

3, to give access to the compartment and also to permit of the seat assuming an inclined position as shown in; Fig. 3.

9 is a rail secured to the rear panel 4 by hinges 22 and 22 where it normally hangs inside of said rear panel 4`as shown in Fig.

3 or where it can be swun on said hinges to a position 9 to support t e'seat 1 in an inclined position, also shown in Fig. 3.

The roll holders are designated as 1.2, for

theone which is stationary and forms the bottom panel of the bench compartment, and- 7 and 8 for the movable one which each hold a smaller number of rolls and have a length slightly less lthan one-half that of holder 12 for the purpose of removal from said compartment and for,

Referring to Figs. '4 and 5, each ofthe 119.146@ are constructed in a similar' manner revealing the musicl lrolls in the lower holder.

- ing brackets r rolls on each holder form a iilin in that they have a dat bottom portion forming abase, as 7, 8 and 12; two strips form- 17 and 17 with semi-circular openin 15, lined with a suitable material 16, as elt, to support a" music roll 19, at or near its ends; ,and spring clamps 18, l8 etc.

feed as shown in lFi s. 6 and 7 and arl ranged in a line central y between brackets 17 and .-17 to'clamp and hold music re i9,

supporting them in the bracket openings- 2llhe spring clamps 18 19 securely in place, keepin them from unwithout the use o bands orelasholding them in a position so the hold the music rolls e: .l tics an r title 21 of each of them can be read directly from the roll. lin this manner titleson the system so the rollsl can be located direc y and as readily as by reading a tiling card it the correct ne' is known, and much more readily than by the 'ordinary ling system when the correct name is not own.

'lhe front and rear compartment panels 2 and 4, have grooves 10, 10:/ and 11, 11 for supporting the roll holders 7 and 8 and which allow the holders to be moved endwise to uncover the rolls located below. rl`he bottom holder 12is stationar for holding and storing rolls not imme iately in use while the upper holders 7 and `8 are movable endwise in either direction .and independently oity each other and also removable from the compartment. The grooves 10 and 10,v in front -panel 2, are cut away at the laces 20 and 20 to allow each of the holders and 8 to be 'ivoted in the groovesll, 1l.

and swing up t rough the cut away portions` 20 and 20 andiso be removed from the. compartment. f

lit will be readily understood that"any suitable number of removable roll holders may be provided, dependin on the size ci the' piano bench desired. A so fon use with a non-automatic piano, the ordinary dat sheet music can be placed on top of the roll holders or suitable plain music holders can be rovided having simply a dat base as 7 wit out the brackets 17 and 17 or the spring clamps 18. y s rllhe operation of the bench in use with a non-automatic piano requires no explanation as the top or seat remainsin'a horizontal or closed position, in the ordinary manner.

For use with a player piano the top is raised to a position 1', lFi 3, and the music from the' compartment by' raising the front roll desired is vselected an removed `itrom its holder. The holders7 and 8 can be moved endwisefin their sup orting grooves to uncover the rolls in the holder 8 or 12 or either of theholders 7 or 8 canbe removed bodily from .groovel0 through the cut awa .por-

i tion 20. The titles on rolls in the ho der so removed can then be read directly-from the nevose? moved at once and the holder with the remaining rolls replaced. This does away` with tiret reading acilrdtor a roll, and of whichthe name must be known, and then locating the roll from its iile.

'llhe rail 9 is then raised from a osition 9 (see lFig 3) toia position 9 .an the seat lowered from position 1 to a tilted position 1, when the bench is ready for use.

l llt will be understood that the front or hinged side ot the piano bench is the side next to theA piano and the side on which the operator sits in ator toward the piano. 'llo obtain a new roll of music, theoperatorgrasps the edge of the seat back of him and ulls it to position 1', lllig. 3, as he rises. e can then lookdown into the bench compartment and ex ose all oitv the titles on the rolls b moving t e mov able holders toright or ett, inde endently of each other, and obtain the rol desired playing. The topf' then,` when tilted to position 1, inclines the operwithout moving the bench or moving from his lace. l f

aving thusdescribed our invention, what lwe claim is:

. 1. A piano bench comprising a supporting lstructure including a compartment open only at its top, legs for sustaining the compartment, a seat hinged at its forward por tion above the compartment a bottom panel for said compartment, brac ets )fastened to said bottom panel with vsemi-circailar open-y f ings for supporting music rolls, and sprin clamps to crm acurved contact with an hold said music rolls and to a stationary roll holder,k whereby saidr rolls. may be clamp d and held in a manner of lng with their -titles exposed, while in1 position in said compartment. n v 2. A piano `bench bomprising a supportin structure includin 'a compartment wit solid front, rear an end panels and open at its top, legs for sustaining the compartment, a seat hinged at itsforward portionl above the vcompartme'ant,grooves in said front and rear anels, and a roll holder adapted to be Yslida ly mounted in said grooves, said roll .3. A piano bench comprisinga supporting stiucture including a compartment with solid front, rear end and bottom panels and open atits top, egs for' sustaining the compartment, a seat hinged at its forward portion above the compartment, said bottom panel having brackets with semi-circular openings and s ring clamps to form a curved contact or music rolls to form a stationary roll holder, rooves in said front and rear panels, a mova le music roll holder approximately one-half the size of said staa tionary holder adapted to be slidably mounted in said grooves,'one of said grooves cut away to allow removing said movable roll holder from said compartment, and means on said movable yroll holder tofolamp and hold music rolls in such a manner that with their titles the form a suitable filing system.

` In testimony whereof, we hereby subscribe our names 1n the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE J. RAUPP.v DAVID CRNFOOT. Witnesses:

LESTER BEITz, EDWARD J. SCHMIDT. 

